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UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


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NORTH   CAROLINIANA 


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■■TTTTMiiaii— ^^EMMBgM 


AN  ADDRESS 


DF.T,IVET!KP  BEFOP.K  TTTK 


TWO  LITERARY  SOCIETIES, 


PF  Tlli^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


BARTHOLOMEW  F.  MOORE 


June  r>th,  1816, 


PUBLTSIIET)  BY  OKDER  OF  THE  SOCTETV. 


RALEIGH,  N.  C. 


PHINTED  AT  THE  RECORDER  OFFICE. 

1846. 


iN  ADDRESS 


BELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


TWO  LITERARY  SOCIETIES, 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA: 


sy 


BARTHOLOMEW  F.  MOORE, 


June  5th,  1545. 


rUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 


RALEIGH,  N.  C. 

PRINTED  AT  THE  RECORDER  OFFICE. 

1846. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Philanthropic  Hall,  July  25th,  IS  IC. 
Dear  Sir  : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Philanthropic  Society,  held  on  the  21th  inst.,  the 
tollovving  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted : — 

"  licsol  vol— Thdt  the  thanks  of  this  Society  be  tendered  to  Bartholomew  F. 
Woore,  Esquire,  for  his  very  able,  eloquent  and  instructive  address  delivered 
before  the  two  Literary  Societies,  on  the  day  preceeding  our  Annual  Com- 
mencement, and  that  a  copy  of  the  same  be  requested  for  publication." 

In  thus  discharging  our  duty,  permit  us  to  express  the  high  gratification 
we  realized  during  its  delivery,  and  to  add  our  personal  solicitations  to 
those  of  the  body  we  represent. 

With  great  respec!, 

JNO.  J.  KINDRED,) 
JOHN  POOL,  S  Committee. 

JOS.  L.  BOZMAN.  ) 
To  B.  F.  Moore,  Esq. 


Halifax,  August  Sth,  1S45. 
Gentlemen: 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  25th  ult.,  enclosing  a  Resolution  of  the 
Philanthropic  Society,  requesting  me  to  furnish  for  publication  a  copy  ofthe 
Address  which  I  had  the  honor  of  delivering  before  the  two  Literary  Socie- 
ties on  the  day  preceeding  your  late  Commencement. 

In  accepting  your  invitation,!  yielded  to  a  sense  of  duty ;  and  an  establish- 
ed usage  requires  that  I  should  now  comply  with  your  request  for  a  copy; 
and  it  is,  accordingly,  herewith  sent. 

For  the  flattering  terms  in  which  the  Resolution  is  couched,  I  owe  to  your 
body  ati  acknowledgement  of  thanks,  which  you  will  be  pleased  to  make  for 
me.  And  accept  for  yourselves,  gentlemen,  the  assurance  of  my  deep  obli- 
gation to  you,  for  the  kindness  and  courtesy  with  which  you  have  commu- 
nicated its  wishes. 

With  great  esteem, 

I  am  your  fellow  member,  and  obd't  serv't, 

B.  F.  MOORE. 
To  Messrs.     Jno.  J.  Kindred,  ) 

John  Pool,  >  Comrmttcc, 

Jos   L.  BoZMAN.       S 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemkn  or  the  Dialectic  and  Philanthropic  Societies: 

Tlie  invitation  which  phices  me  before  you  on  this  in- 
teresting- occasion,  was  to  me  a  command.  The  honor 
it  bespeaks  had  been  ill  requited;  indeed,  if,  without  a 
better  excuse  than  a  short  absence  from  the  incessant 
round  of  professional  avocations,  the  required  service 
had  been  withheld.  I  felt  that  if  I  declined,  I  should  be- 
tray an  insensibility  to  the  kindness  of  my  young  friends 
utterly  alien  to  my  bosom,  and  an  unbecoming  indiffe- 
rence to  the  welfare  of  thisUniversit}^,  by  much  the  fair- 
est jewel  of  the  Sfate. 

Duly  affected  by  both,  I  come  with  more  zeal  to  man- 
ifest my  sense  of  a  duty,  than  with  hope  to  ratify  the 
judgment  of  a  flattering  selection.  A  partiality  unexpect- 
ed, and,  I  fear  withal,  quite  unmerited,  will  be  mucli 
more  needed  for  the  errors  of  the  task,  than  for  the  mo- 
tives of  the  attempt. 

On  no  prior  occasion  have  the  friends  of  our  literature 
convened  with  happier  auspices  to  reward  them  for  the 
past,  or  to  stimulate  them  to  future  exertions  :  society  a- 
waits  the  present  tribute  of  learning  with  delight,  and  re- 
joices in  the  fruitful  prospects  of  years  advancing  to  re- 
cruit her  with  fresh  stores:  and  the  State,  favored  by  her 
foresight  in  ordaining  this  seat  of  learning,  is  preparing- 
to  reap  the  rich  harvests  of  her  care — doubly  blessed, 
— blessed  in  the  crop  which  she  gathers,   and  blessed 


in  the  seed  il  supplicSj  fur  anipler  fields  and  forests  yet 
unsubdued. 

As  a  citizen,  I  deeply  feel,  nnd  am  proud  to  express  my 
gratitude  to  the  excellent  and  able  men  under  whose 
wise  conduct  the  University  has  attained  its  elevated  po- 
sition and  rival  rank  amongst  the  most  distinguished  lite- 
rary institutions  of  the  country  :  men  who  never  feel  in- 
difference towards  the  youth  instructed  by  their  care, 
but  watch  their  progress  in  the  active  scenes  of  life, 
nnd  rejoice  as  fathers  do,  when  they  mount  to  emi- 
nence in  the  virtuous  pursuits  of  manhood.  While  we 
are  enjoying,  in  all  ti>e  vv'alks  of  life,  and  in  every  de- 
partment of  knowledge,  the  results  of  their  invaluable 
labors,  they  have  not  received  the  just  tribute  of  their 
successful  exertions.  I  am  pleased,  however,  to  observe 
the  increased  honor  of  a  professor's  chair,  and  to  see  the 
cause  of  instruction  enlisting,  in  its  behalf,  the  distin- 
guished men  of  the  land.  Statesmen  of  fame — high 
civil  functionaries — accomplished  scholars  : — To  behold 
men  who  have  borne,  with  merited  distinction^  the 
highest  honors  of  state,  presiding  in  the  republics  oflet- 
ters — others  before  them  and  now  the  Everetts  and  Pre- 
slons  of  our  countr}'  following  their  illustrious  examples, 
and  becoming  in  turn  most  illustrious  examples  them- 
selves. 

The  present  age,  my  young  friends,  must  strike  you 
in  a  light,  far  diflferent  from  that  in  which  it  is  present- 
ed to  me.  To  me  it  is  an  age  of  REVOLUTION.  As 
brief  as  has  been  my  observation,  compared  with  that 
of  a  long  life,  I  seem  to  have  passed  through  more  chan- 
ges in  the  aflairs  of  men  and  of  science,  than  I  was  wont 
to  count  in  reading  a  century  of  history.  You  enter  life 
upon  the  age  as  it  is  : — The  present  is  your  starting  point ; 
I  have  been  hurried  along  with  its  rapid  movements,  for 
twenty  years.  The  impressions  of  its  changes  are  viv- 
idly felt ;  no  account  of  them,  from  the  most  gifted  pen, 
can  ever  reveal  to  you  the  sensations  they  inspired  as 


tliey  occmrctl,  somclinic-;  astonlslilng  niaiikitid,  and  of- 
ten bewildering  it  witli  llie  suddenness  and  slinngcness 
of  the  event.  In  (wenl}^  years  more,  if  llie  impulses  of 
the  present  day  are  not  obstructed  or  diverted,  yon  will 
be  able  to  feel  as  I  feel.  I  am  not  claiming  the  privi- 
lege of  age,  to  eulogise  the  past  and  depreciate  the  pres- 
ent ;  for,  in  niany  respects,  I  am  made  sensible  that  I 
drank  at  the  fountain  of  scholasiic  knowledge,  in  a  day 
of  ignorance  contrasted  with  this.  It  is  true  that  a 
comet,  discovered,  did  not  then  alarm  mankind  with  ap- 
prehensions of  "pestilence  and  war,"  but  it  put  all  men 
in  a  state  ofcuriosily  to  see  the  vagrant,  liaming  "through 
the  void  immense" — now  (hey  arc  announced  every 
iiionih,  and  seem  often  in  companies,  chequering  the 
face  of  the  heavens,  and  joiu'neying  (ogetlier,  like  friends 
on  the  highwa}',  "amid  the  music  of  the  spheres."  A 
few  years  ago,  and  those  misls  of  distance,  which  for 
ages  had  spread  their  azure  concave  "high  in  the  ex- 
panse of  heaven,"  yet  held  the  astronomer  spell  bound 
within  a  walled  circle  of  discovery  : — now,  removed  bv 
Iiis  telescope,  he  luxuriates  in  a  new  field  of  beautiful 
creation,  hidden  from  the  eye  of  man  since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  ;  and  retreat(>d  as  they  have  countless 
myriads  of  miles,  his  probing  vision  yet  pursues,  and 
€vcn  now,  they  hang  trembling  in  the  twilight  of  his 
glass,  ready  to  fly  (o  regions  slill  more  remote,  and  sur- 
render other  worlds  (o  bis  gaze. 

But  while  here  and  there,  astronomers  have  been 
opening  the  secret  pages  of  celeslial  nature,  genius,  un- 
der the  guidance  of  science  and  art,  with  a  lliousand 
hands,  and  in  eveiy  civilized  coimtry  on  (he  globe,  has 
been  handling  the  elements  of  ear(h,  and  moulding 
them,  in  every  imaginable  form,  for  practical  use  ant! 
application.  Tlie  sluggish  have  been  animated;  the 
wild  she  has  tamed  ;  she  has  subdued  (he  fiercf,  and 
the  subtle  led.  Water,  fire,  air,  steam  and  electrici- 
ty, ail  are  3"oked  in  (he  harness  of  art,  and  arc  creating, 


fefclirng",  carrying,  conconfratlng  and  tlistiiljiuitig-,  ns 
taste  and  want  may  diioct,  (he  treasure?  of  mountain 
and  plain,  of  the  livcis  and  seas,  of  tiie  poles  and  e- 
qiialor.  Graduated  to  every  degree  of  energy,  the  same 
power  uplieaves  a  ton  of  iron,  and  directs  the  delicate 
Mie&h  of  the  mazy  lace  ;  hamniers  the  huge  mass  for  a 
paixhan  gun,  and  finishes  the  point  of  a  needle.  Even 
the  loud  fierce  spark  of  the  clouds  is  taught  to  drop  its 
rage,  to  fawn  on  its  conductor,  and  whisper  along  the 
wires.  Time  overcome,  and  leagues  shortened  to  fur- 
longs, and  the  press  free  to  discuss  the  principles  of 
science,  and  prompt  to  announce  every  discovery  and 
invention,  the  knowledge  of  all  men-  becomes  the 
knowledge  of  each  one. 

Upon  this  expanded  basis  the  ingenuity  of  a  hundred 
thousand  minds,  stimulated  by  fitime,  by  interest,  by  ne- 
cessity ant!  by  power,  has  been,  for  a  quarter  of  a  centu- 
ry, analyzing  and  combining  the  rich  and  various  ele- 
ments of  matter.  Ffom  such  efforts,  and  with  such 
means,  the  world  has  received  an  accession  of  scientific 
and  practical  knowledge,  which  surpasses  the  highest 
period  of  improvement,  known  in  the  history  of  time. 
The  number  and  variety  of  inventions  and  discoveries, 
the  rapidity  of  thcirsuccession,  and,  above  all,  their  suc- 
cessful application  to  the  pursuits  of  life,  at  first  stag- 
gering mankind  with  fearful  apprehensions  of  a  stupen- 
dous change,  have,  by  their  use,  so  suspended  the  set- 
tled occupations  of  men,  and  rooted  up  the  fixed  hab- 
its of  business,  within  my  own  time,  that  I  seem,  not 
only  to  have  suffered  a  revolution,  but  to  be  in  ihe  midst 
of  a  far  greater  one  still.  The  same  causes  at  work 
and  the  means  accumulated  by  each  new  discover}^, 
must  inevitably  impel  onward  a  revolution,  wliich, 
great  as  il  is,  I  believe  to  be  yet  incipient ;  whose  end  no 
man  may  predict,  and  whose  final  results  no  one  may 
calculate. 

As  sensible,  however,  as  1  am   made  of  the  immeas- 


utabie  lioncfHs  wliicli  liavc  accrued  ami  arc  still  accnimg^ 
to  ii.Sj  from  (lie  womlerful  energies  ofmimi,  ami,  a-scap- 
idly,  as  I  am  wliiiled  along  in  (heir  dazzling  maicii,  I 
ye(  see  mucli  lliat  obstructs  tlie  moral  advancement  of  our 
species,  and  administers  poison  to  the  paesions  of  the 
heart. 

While  the  scientific  press,  to  the  elevation  and  glory 
of  the  age,  is  spreading  her  pure  and  undefilcd  lights 
over  the  workl,  for  the  increase  of  knowledge  and  lUe. 
happiness  of  man,  the  li(erary  press,  for  one  valuable 
work,  sends  out  half  a  score  of  books,  which  deprave 
the  taste  and  corrtipt  the  affections.  The  ininiensily 
of  the  evil  is  such  as  (o  attract  the  general  attentioii  of 
moralists,  and  enlist  (he  discerning  and  virtuous  por- 
tion of  modern  writers,  in  the  most  praiseworthy  at- 
tempts, to  correct,  through  the  press  itself,  its  mischiev- 
ous and  profligalG  tendencies.  These  works,  assuming 
the  form  of  fiction,  and  professing,  as  a  plausible  pre- 
text for  their  publication,  to  paint  sceacs  froai  real  life, 
draw,  nevertheless,  almost  invariabi}',  from  the  sawie 
sources,  the  characters  and  materials  of  the  composi- 
tion. The  devotees  of  pleasure  figure  high  in  (h.e  tale: 
and  for  the  material,  are  selected  those  powerful  fasciwa- 
tions  whicli  present  themselves  to  the  in^aginatioji  of 
youth,  and  impatiently  await  the  dawning  of  nia^urity 
for  fruition.  The  soft  luxuries  of  wealth  and  exquisite 
refinements  of  taste,  often  the  most  generous  impulses 
of  feeling,  and  finest  accomplishments  of  manner  cuibel- 
lisli  the  scenes  and  adorn  (he  peisonages,  who  are  dcs- 
lined,  with  the  fresh  charms  of  youth  and  voluptuous 
graces  of  beauty,  to  enact  the  gaiticsand  gallantries  of  a 
sensual  life. 

I  n:ed  not  ask  tlic  young,  if  tliey  have  ever  Iieard  the 
seductive  song  of  (he  Siren,  nor  how  warmly' glows  ll.i« 
inuigination,  as  she  sings  of  the  enjoyments,  with  whicli 
fancy  opens  the  spring  of  our  being.  This  period  of  life, 
the  most  dangerous  by  fur,  beset  as  it    i^;  with    illusioijs 


pccKliar  (o  (lie  vi\'acity  and  ardor  of  a  bosom,  swelling' 
with  the  aniicipatioiis  of  iinlasted  delights,  needs  every 
precept  of  morality  and  religion  to  curb  its  impetuosity 
and  check  its  excesses,  until,  moderated  by  advice,  and 
controlled  by  virtuous  habits,  the  fierceness  of  its  fires 
may  expire  in  the  sobering  occupations  of  real  life. — 
Yet,  for  renders  of  this  description  these  books  are  in- 
tended ;  and  so  great  is  the  encouragement  given  to 
ihem,  that  the  press  labors  with  the  supply.  Even  ge- 
nius, allured  by  the  hope  of  reward,  and  a  momentary 
fame,  stoops  from  its  high  destiny,  to  pander  to  the  vi- 
cious appetite,  and  aids  in  spreading  the  corrupting  in- 
fluence over  the  generation,  which  constitutes,  in  the  or- 
der of  Providence,  the  great  future  reliance  for  integ- 
rity in  government,  purity  in  inoralsj  and  piety  in  reli- 
gion. 

In  the  productions  of  tliis  class,  there  is  scarcely  a 
noble  sentiment  uttered,  which  does  not  come  to  exten- 
uate some  censurable  act,  or  criminal  propensit}'^ ;  and 
vice  stands  forth  bedecked  in  the  flowers  of  virtue,  till 
the  impassioned  reader  is  ready  to  believe  the  orna- 
ments are  legitimately  hers,  and  have  been  stolen  by 
priests  and  moralists,  and  misapplied  with  a  view  to 
commit  the  human  race  to  a  cruel  penance  ofsuflTering' 
and  mortification.  Allured,  persuaded,  entranced — the 
congenial  passions  of  the  reader  excited  and  inflamed, 
he  leaps  into  the  drama  and  selects,  as  a  type  for  him- 
self, the  most  vicious  character  that  figures  in  the  scene. 
When  the  last  page  is  finished,  and  the  book  is  closed, 
what  nest  does  he  propose  to  himself?  How  few,  alas! 
are  they,  who  are  ready  to  submit  themselves  to  a  self 
examination  ;  to  call  to  their  aid  the  lessons  of  morali- 
ty, or  even  to  compare  themselves  of  to  day,  with 
themselves  of  yesterday  1  The  fences,  indeed,  around 
the  heart,  are  undermined  and  sapped,  but  the  illusioa 
is  too  sweet  to  allow  it  to  be  perceived  ;  and  as  soon  as 
the  last  interesting  scene  ceases  to  excite,  a  new  story 


is  tlcmaiKlccl,  of  a  similar  (astc,  with  which  (.u  gratify 
tlic  stiiiiuhxlcii  passions,  and  satiate  an  appetite,  which 
"grows  on    what  feeds."'' 

Siicii  works  continue  tlic  false  and  corrnpling  visions 
of  llic  imagination  till  (hoy  beget  a  habit  of  thonght — 
a  cnrrent  of  rcvery,  so  bewitching,  that  the  soul,  los- 
ing all  delight  for  things  as  they  are,  loathes  the  reali- 
ties of  life,  and,  continually  reverting  to  its  cherished 
visions,  is  never  at  case  without  the  page  that  depicts 
them.  This  species  of  reading,  quickly  becoming  a 
passion,  creates  a  dreamy  existence,  from  which  the 
victim  awakes  with  the  same  restless  feelings,  as  does 
the  confirmed  eater  of  opium;  both,  alike,  find  life  in- 
tolerable, without  the  poison,  which  first  imparted,  and 
now,  at  once,  continues  the  disease  and  furnishes  a  ino- 
inentary  comfort.  Let  no  one  suppose  he  may  be  ad- 
dicted to  it,  and  abandon  it  at  will.  Those  who  use  it, 
at  first,  to  fill  up  a  vacant  hour,  will  soon  cease  (o 
have  for  it,  an  hour  too  sacred  :  and  it  is  a  great  moral 
truth  of  practical  experience,  tliat,  as  certainly  as  read- 
ing trains  the  thought,  thought  will  direct  the  conduct 
of  life. 

Nor  may  one  promise  himself,  to  live  the  solitaiy  vic- 
tim of  the  delusion.  His  example  cannot  but  be  conta- 
gious. The  books  of  the  parent  will  be  the  books  of  the 
child,  whose  greater  suscejitibility  of  impression  will  con- 
stitute the  surest  means  of  fixing  its  tastes  and  habits,  be- 
yond the  voice  of  reason  or  hope  of  reformation.  In- 
deed, against  the  spread  of  tlic  contagion  and  its  conse- 
quent evils,  w^hich  are  nothing  short  of  a  war  on  the 
chaste  affections  of  the  bosom  and  all  the  decencies  of 
life — nothing  short  of  degrading  every  elevated  feeling 
of  the  soul,  until  a  voluptuous  sensuality  shall  become 
its  chief  business,  its  only  spring  of  action,  its  deity  and 
its  end — what  sheild  is  now  left  in  the  hands  of  our  de- 
fence, so  efficient  as  the  example  of  parents'? — what 
lesson,  so  impressive  as  the  manly    rebuke    of  a  father, 


10 

and  ilie  persuasive  voice  of  a  iiiotlicr  ?  If  lliey  ncgh  ct 
the  interesting  duty,  wlio  will  interfere  I  who  point  out 
to  the  child  the  pitfalls  and  quicksands,  in  (he  jonrney 
of  life,  if  she  will  not  whose  name  is  Love?  Who  will 
distrust  the  mother  1  Educate  her  in  the  precepts  (hat 
purify,  ennoble  and  adorn  humanit}^,  and  she  will,  for 
(he  talents  bestowed,  return  to  society  choice  jewels  in^ 
deed.  Her  station  in  life — the  moral  beauty  of  the  name 
of  woman — the  sweet  influence  of  her  person — the  pow- 
er of  her  love — (he  unsullied  purily  of  her  affections,  in- 
stinctively inspire  her  with  a  dread  of  licentiousness, 
and  place  her  the  chief  sentry  against  the  foes  of  a  do- 
minion, which  she  holds  by  the  arm  of  her  virtue. — 
If  on  such  an  arm  as  this,  the  purity  of  society  may  not 
repose  in  safety,  the  age  indeed  is  undone. 

It  IS  now  the  turn  of  some  of  you,  and  shortly  it  will 
be  the  lot  of  all  of  you,  to  quit  this  institution  where  your 
associations  have  been  with  persons  of  literary  taste  and 
the  higher  orders  of  intellect,  to  mingle  with  the  mass  of 
your  fellow  citizens,  and  to  witness,  amongst  them,  a 
dearth  of  education  which  must  bring  pain  to  your  bos- 
oms; and  while  you  will  not  forget  the  du(y  to  aid  in  re- 
moving this  source  of  public  mortification,  you  will,  doubt- 
less, perceive  that  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  igno- 
rance by  which  you  may  be  surrounded,  will  be  increas- 
ed your  responsibility  as  educated  men.  Time  would 
not  permit  me  to  point  out  to  yon  the  peculiar  duties 
which  spring  from  (his  position.  A  superior  education, 
where  such  an  advantage  is  comparatively  rare,  at  once 
places  the  young  man  on  elevated  ground,  and  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly natural,  that  he  should  attempt  to  avail  him- 
self of  its  advantages.  In  this  country,  politics  absorb 
an  imdue  portion  of  the  honors  whose  fame  is  "sweet  to 
mortal  ears;"  and  those  who  are  ambitious  "to  win  a 
name — to  leave  some  vesiage  as  they  pass,"  usually  en- 
ter the  lists  of  popular  preferment.  It  is  a  remark  of 
(hat  excellent  moralist,  Plutarch,  whose  lives  the  states- 


11 

man  cannot  (oo  oftPii  rcatl,  that  it  li^  laudable  fur  the  cit- 
izen of  a  republic  to  be  vcisetl  in  pnblic  aflTair?.  Aiul  if, 
with  dtie  preparation  in  the  study  of  your  institutions 
and  firm  principles  of  action,  yon  can  secure  a  public 
station  and  serve  the  conimonwealth,  tiic  service  will  be 
both  honorable  to  you  and  grateful  to  the  public.  Rep- 
utation thus  acquired  will  be  worthy  of  the  efiTort.  If 
honestly  to  serve  your  country,  and  thus  deserve  distinc- 
tion, be  your  aim,  the  purpose  is  commendable  ;  but  if 
station  is  sought,  simply,  because  of  the  consequence  it 
may  bestow,  it  is  an  attempt  ty  rob  the  place  from  bet- 
ter men  and  your  country  of  their  services.  Such  seek- 
ers of  place  arc  the  demagogues  of  the  republic,  wlio, 
looking  on  office  as  a  species  of  vacant  property,  open 
alike  to  the  entry  of  all,  deem  themselves  at  liberty  to 
jockey  for  the  possession,  with  every  art  of  dissimulation 
and  flatter}''. 

Loosing  all  self  respect,  under  the  affectation  of  being 
wholly  devoted  to  the  great  principles  of  freedom,  they 
are  heard  boasting  that  they  have  no  opinion  of  their 
own,  and  are  but  the  mere  echo  of  their  master's  will. 
If  a  popular  prejudice  prevails,  they  are  swift  to  embrace 
it,  and  hasten  to  inflame  and  to  lead  it,  and  when  the 
day  of  discovered  and  acknowledged  error  arrives,  the3% 
cowardly  take  shelter  under  the  popular  delusion.  AH 
things  to  all  )nen,  in  principles  and  measures,  they  will 
carry  their  obsequiousness  to  the  gravest  matters  of  faith, 
and  are  prepared  to  worship,  as  the  hour  may  advantage 
them,  with  the  Musselman  or  the  Morman. 

An  educated  man,  thus  the  changeling  of  the  times? 
and  parasite  of  ignorance  and  prejudice,  brings  disgrace 
on  the  cause  of  letters,  and  engenders  a  profound  con- 
tempt for  government  and  the  character  of  its  rulers. — 
The  author  of  these  evils  to  his  fellow  men  is  seldom 
permitted  to  obtain  the  hoped  reward  of  his  prostituted 
ambition.  Discovered  often,  and  pardoned  often,  he  be- 
comes at  last  the  victim  of  his  own  duplicity,  sinks  to  a 


1-2 


ilislioiiorctl  and  ilieaded  ub.sciiri(\  ,  ami  «iin"ci7;  a  U»lal 
wreck.  Abandoned  b\'  those  lie  has  deceived,  and  \efl 
to  Ills  conscience,  only  for  coniforl,  (he  cares  of  age  and 
inorlified  hopes  g-athcr  (heir  dark  clouds  around  the  eve- 
ning of  his  days,  and  he  closes  his  ill-spent  life  in  a  night 
of  despair. 

Few  are  (he  men  who  ever  attained  a  just  eminence 
as  servants  of  the  public,  who  have  con(cn(cd  them- 
selves with  being  the  servile  instruments  of  odiers — the 
mere  passive  machine  in  the  hands  of  the  multitude. — 
Men  of  superior  genius  and  lionest  convictions  rise  high 
over  such  shackles,  and,  planting  themselves  firmly 
against  error  and  ignorance,  will  vanquish  them  or  fall 
in  the  attempt — disdaining  to  lead  an  opinion  which 
their  judgment  condemns,  or  to  advocate  a  principle 
which  (heir  conscience  abhors.  Such  is  the  firmness 
which  honorable  public  service  demands,  and  without  it, 
no  one  should  seek  it.  In  its  unflinching  exercise  hard 
struggles  must  be  met  and  overcome  :  not  once  nor  twice, 
but  oftentimes.  And  the  race  is  never  run — (he  ba(tle 
never  finished,  till  tlie  statesman  retires  from  (he  field. 

We  cannot  wonder  then  that  prudent  and  difiulent 
men  should  so  frequently  avoid  such  a  contest,  and  leave, 
to  noisy  audacity,  the  possession  of  the  prize. 

Nor  is  it  the  demagogue  alone,  who,  having  exhaust- 
ed his  arts,  is  ejected  from  favor.  The  patriot  statesman 
who  has  known  no  wish  but  his  country's  glory  and  pros- 
perity, whose  all  was  hers,  and  upon  whose  head  she 
had,  in  moments  of  exultation,  placed  her  crown  ofgrat- 
itude,  lias  had  it  rudely  snatched  away  and  his  fame 
eclipsed  with  the  malignant  clouds  of  envious  rivalry. — 
Neither  eloquence,  exerted  for  his  country's  good  in  her 
hour  of  peril,  nor  that  country  saved  by  his  advice  from 
the  discord  of  wars,  or  by  his  sword  from  conquest,  nor 
the  recolleclion  of  sacrifices,  nor  his  oft  time  hazarded 
life,  has,  in  the  day  of  his  trial,  so  pleaded  for  justice  (o 
him,  as  he  pleaded  for  her.     His  firm  resistance  to  elo- 


i:j 


((HfMil  iii-inoi;'ooii.'.s,  |()  p.'rni(-i<Mi-^  Imt  po|>iil;ii  (•oiinscis, 
to  a  (IiiitiUmkhI  (\ianny,  or  to  llio  fiantic  tlclii-uons  ol  ilu; 
luiillitiiile,  lias  bioiigltt  on  liiiii  llio  condrniiialiui)  ol'  ;i 
j)eoplc  uiisled  by  llie  corrupt  i\!ol  of  (he  lionr.  !(.  had 
been  easy  fur  him  to  have  eluded  lIic  storm,  by  bowing- 
to  its  violence  :  and  the  facile  reader  will  aslc,  why  it 
was  not  done.  It  is  not  in  (he  natnie  of  snch  men  to 
purchase  their  safet\'  at  the  price;  of  their  coimliy'is  wel- 
J'are.  They  would  rather  die  martyrs  (o  right,  than  be 
honored  of  wrong.  Besides,  as  has  been  nobly  asked 
by  one  of  the  best  men  of  anticpiity — of  what  value  (o 
ins  conntiy  are  (he  popularity  and  influenec  of  a  states- 
man, if  he  will  not,  in  the  day  of  her  peril,  hazard  theni 
in  her  defence  ? 

But  let  not  the  demagogue  gather  cheer  from  these  in- 
stances of  the  misguided  judgment  of  an  cx'ciled  and  de- 
luded people  ;  nor  imagine,  that,  because  both  have  fal- 
len by  the  sentence  of  the  some  tribunal,  his  crime  is 
diminished,  or  that  his  disgrace  has  found  a  companion  ; 
two  such  men  can  never  travel  in  the  same  orbit.  In  (he 
day  of  their  prosperity,  they  never  met  but  as  virtue 
and  vice;  and,  in  the  hour  of  their  adversity,  they  can 
have  no  fellowship  of  feeling. 

A  sublimcr  spectacle  of  moral  grandeur  cannot  be  wit- 
nessed, than  when  one  who  has  been  carried,  for  a  score 
of  yeors,  upon  the  bosom  of  the  popular  wave,  encoini- 
tcrs  a  mighty  contrary  tide,  and  braves  the  conflict  WMth 
fn-mness,  without  faltering,  or  fear  for  himself.  This 
hour  it  is  that  tries  the  statesman:  an  hoin-,  in  which  a 
greater  soul  is  demanded  for  the  struggle,  than  ever  hur- 
ried the  warrior  along  the  path  of  glory  ; — in  which  his 
defeat  will  impart  a  future  renown,  brighter  far  than  (hat 
which  follows  the  victorious  chief  of  battles.  Ruled  in 
all  his  conduct  by  a  noble  sense  of  justice,  and  daring 
now  to  be  right,  "when  the  rains  descend  and  the  floods 
come,  and  the  winds  blow,"  he  meets  (he  storm  as  does 
the  house  (hat  is  "founded  on  a  lock."     Seciu'e   in    his 


14 

position  of  honor  nnd  integrity,  lie  cnlmiy  a\v:ii(s  (lie 
jnclgnionl  of  onotlier  ami  a  hotter  day;  anti  whodier  that 
tlav  come  in  his  own  lime,  or  afterwaicls,  he  knows  it 
Mill  come  :  and  if  it  he  not  given  him  to  enjoy  it  with 
friends,  yet,  through  the  vista  of  the  future,  he  sees  it 
approaching,  illumed  with  the  sun  of  truth,  in  whose  ra- 
diance he  rends  the  hright  record  of  an  unsullied  life, 
nnd  a  vindicated  fame.  Like  Moses,  from  his  Pisgah, 
lie  is  permitted  to  heliold  a  land  hlessed  hy  his  genius, 
nnd  hiessing  his  name. 

But  whether  you  prepare  your  wing  for  so  difficult  a 
flight,  or  he  content  to  glide  in  an  himibler  course,  you 
sliould  never  forget  that  your  first  step  into  the  aflfairs  of 
life  is  a  step  into  power.  Humble  though  it  appear,  as 
shared  with  so  many  thousands,  yet  it  is  the  power  of  the 
land  ; — greater  in  you,  and  of  greater  responsibility  on 
you.  The  intelligence  of  the  age  will  claim  the  tribute 
paid  to  its  virtues,  and  must  not  expect  to  escape  the 
censure  bestowed  on  its  vices. 

It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  we  may  avoid  our  share 
of  responsibility  hy  surrendering  it  (o  others.  Where  it 
is  divided  by  design,  it  is  a  duty  to  discharge  it :  and  the 
first  great  preparation  is  the  cultivation  of  a  proper  sense 
of  justice.  To  be  just,  in  every  relation  of  life,  is  an  ad- 
mitted obligation  ;  and  as  the  neglect  of  it  in  private  life, 
singles  out  the  individual,  it  is  better  guarded  tiian  that 
justice  which  large  bodies  of  men  owe  to  other  large  bo- 
dies of  men.  It  is  this  species  of  justice — national  jus- 
tice to  which  I  would  invite  your  attention  ; — the  silken 
cord  which  unites  into  one,  the  states  of  our  confederacy, 
and  the  bright  league  of  amity  between  the  nations  of 
tlie  earth.  Its  omission,  although  it  affect  the  renown  of 
millions,  is  never  so  sensibly  felt  hy  the  mass  of  men, 
as  individual  wrong  is  by  each  one,  when  he  sits  in  judg- 
ment on  the  fault  of  his  neighbor.  But,  even  in  trials 
between  them,  where  the  question  is  clear  to  reflecting 
nuMi>  a  sense  of  justice  is  often  lost  in  the  excitement  of 


15 

local  piuties,  or  siiiollicied  nndrr  a  cloud  of  prrjiulicc. — 
And  liow  much  moie  apt  is  (liis  (o  occur,  where  masses, 
ill  difiereiiL  localities  are  opposed  ?  Prone  (o  he  clannish, 
we  are  enlisted,  at  once,  on  the  side  of  him  who  appears 
to  take  up  (he  quarrel  of  the  community,  and  to  feel^ 
not  an  interested  wrong  of  his  own,  hut  a  generous  fire 
against  the  wrong  of  all.  Jealous  at  all  times  of  insult 
and  injury,  we  are  quick  to  helicvc  their  existence,  and 
ashamed  not  to  feel  their  sting  and  join  in  the  common 
vindication.  Thus  himdreds  are  swept  along  with  the 
occasion  without  enquiry  or  reflection.  The  proposed 
end  is  nohle,  the  grief  alleged  is  public,  and  unanimiiy, 
the  most  certain  means  of  avengement,  seems  to  he  a 
virtue.  Amidst  such  excitements  calm  investigation  is 
denounced  and  candid  counsel  despised  as  cowardice. — 
The  timid  are  first  overawed,  and  then  become  zealots 
through  fear  of  being  suspected. 

Such  scenes  are  of  no  rare  occurrence  between  large 
bodies  of  men  in  dilferent  sections  of  our  own  country, 
bound  together,  though  they  be,  by  so  many  present  in- 
terests and  close  associations,  and  by  many  glorious  re- 
collections of  the  past.  And  much  more  readily  will 
they  occur,  between  different  nations,  where  the  inter- 
ests are  weaker,  the  associations  few,  and  the  past, 
viewed  with  indifference,  or  remembered  with  hatred. 

The  idea  of  justice  is  not  innate,  and  to  possess  a  pro- 
per sense  of  it,  is  more  difficult  than  the  acquisition  of 
any  other  virtue.  Almost  ever}'^  passion  and  affection, 
the  constant  companions  of  the  human  bosom,  are  in- 
cessantly beclouding  the  enquiry,  what  it  is  7  and  what 
it  demands  1  And  if  these  could  be  quieted,  interest  is 
seldom  asleep,  or  without  its  persuasions  (o  mislead. 

In  Egypt  the  emblem  of  justice  was  without  a  head, 
because  it  was  supposed  the  heart  should  chielly  direct 
it.  But  among  the  various  representations  designed  (o 
offer  a  sensible  idea  of  what  itshonld  be,  I  like  that  best 
which  presents  it  as  a  "virgin  with  a  piercing,  steadfast 


16 


eye:" — Piiic  in  iiilriilioii,  keen  and  careliil  (o  oxainiiic, 
iirul  nrni  iti  ilrcisioii. — -Naliona!  Jn^i  ice  deniaiulsall  llicse 
qiialilies,  and  demands  tlieni  all  combined.  The  pnic 
heart,  williunt  llie  rellecting  head,  is  a  mere  blnndeier; 
the  beslhead  wilhouL  the  iiprii2,liL  liearl,  is  often  the 
most  wicked  of  counscdlofs  ;  and  both  wilUout  fii'mncss, 
is  a  wretched  arbiter. 

National  jnslice  nuist  owe  its  existence  (o  national 
lights.  The  variety  and  intricacy  of  these  have  greatly 
mnllipled  in  an  age  remarkable  for  the  intercommnni- 
calion  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  with  their  rich  and 
boundless  comnicrce,  and  the  numberless  instances  with 
which  the  blessings  of  peace  have  woven  t.iic  web  of  hn- 
nian  hai)piness.  Something,  certainly,  has  been  done 
to  produce  these  great  results,  by  tiie  charitable  efforts 
of  associated  men  ;  but  more — yes,  nearly  all,  has  been 
accomplished  by  the  arm  of  national  enterprise,  directed 
by  a  pacific  spirit  of  national  aggrandizement. 

Traveling  ourselves  in  this  great  highway  of  moral 
ambition,  with  the  powerful  nations  of  Christendom,  and 
attaining,  at  every  step,  higher  elevations  and  nobler  po- 
sitions in  the  ascending  scale  of  national  being,  how  aw- 
ful must,  be  the  responsibilit}'  of  that  people  which  runs 
athwarl  the  way,  and  stops,  or,  what  is  likely  to  be  far 
worse  still,  turns  back,  the  sublime  march — the  lust 
nnitcd  march  of  great  and  independent  nations,  since  the 
beginning  of  time,  leading  to  the  common  happiness  of 
our  species.  When,  in  this  race,  collisions  are  menac- 
ed, or  a  jealous  rivalry  shall  prompt  one  to  seize  the 
means  of  sliooting  ahead,  how  essential,  at  such  a  mo- 
ment, is  that  cultivated  sense  of  national  justice,  trained 
to  examine  with  candor,  and  to  decide  with  firmness  I 
How  requisite  the  noble  soul  of  Aristides,  which  prefers 
a  country's  honor,  before  her  interest;  and  dares  to  pro- 
nounce that  "most  unjust,"  wliicli  is  confessed  to  be 
"most  advantageous." 
:  In  such  emergencies,  a  true  and   enlightened   patriot- 


17 


i^m  ac(d  on  (lir  pi  iiici[)ii>,  that  a  nadoird  honor  i:*  /"oniul- 
cil  on  llie  jnslice  of  her  cause,  nnd  draws  not  (he  sword, 
witlionl  aj3ppaling-  to  heaven  for  the  rectilnde  of  lier  in- 
tention, and  ''snbniilling'  llie  facts  to  the  decision  of  an 
impartial  world."  Nations  have  a  deep  interest  in  the 
acquisition  of  character,  and  the  rash  and  ill-timed  coun- 
sels of  anger  and  rivalry  di-grace  the  people  that  em- 
ploy them,  and  profane  the  page  of  their  history.  A  na- 
tion renowned  for  its  justice  to  others,  will  never  be  un- 
just to  itself;  and,  from  its  high  position,  its  claims  will 
always  be  heard  wiiii  attention,  and  treated  with  respect. 
It  is  vain  to  suppose  that  a  people  will  ever  deserve  a 
good  name,  who  proudly  despise  all  opinions  of  tiieir 
conduct  but  their  own.  With  as  much  hope,  may  we 
look  to  find  a  worthy  man,  who  is  indifferent  lo  the 
esteem  of  his  fellow  men  :  and  that  sovereign,  whether 
represented  by  the  mnjoiity  of  the  people,  or  by  the 
majesty  of  a  throne,  who  affects  to  contemn  the  judg- 
ment of  the  world,  is  either  too  proud  to  learn  justice, 
or  already  too  wicked  to  practise  it. 

The  moral  restraint  of  the  love  of  esteem  on  the  ac- 
tions of  men,  is  incalculably  great — far  more  powerful 
than  the  simple  love  of  justice.  In  individuals,  it  is 
most  likely  to  loce  its  control,  when,  invested  with  a 
power  so  great  as  to  make  them  fearless  of  scrutiny  ;  or, 
when  elated  by  a  rapid  prosperity,  which  overpowers 
censure  and  demands  admiration  for  extraordinary  suc- 
cess. And  a  nation  is  in  most  danger,  when,  from  a 
lowly  beginning,  emerging  to  greatness  and  outstripping 
every  rival,  she  at  length  believes  she  has  mounted  to  a 
destiny  of  grandeur  and  power,  unequalled  before  ;  and 
looking  back  on  the  laggards  of  the  race,  she  remem- 
bers, with  bitterness,  the  insultsand  scorn  with  which  they 
treated  the  struggles  of  her  early  and  humble  existence. 

It  would  be  a  sad  spectacle,  indeed,  to  behold  a  na- 
tion destitute  of  a  high  self  esteem  :  but  whilst  there  is 
little  danger  of  our  encountering    thu-  reproach,  I   fear 


18  - 

we  arc  not  eufficiently  careful  of  the  opinion  of  others. 
Upwards  of  fifty  years  ago,  Mr.  Madison  bore  wilness  fo 
the  e.xistence  of  this  vice,  and  admonished  his  country- 
uien  of  its  evils.  I  siiall  ofler  no  apology  for  repeating 
a  warning  which  emenated  from  one  of  the  purest  and 
wisest  men  of  his,  or  any  other  age. 

"An  attention,"  says  this  virtuous  citizen,  "to  the 
judgment  of  other  nations  is  important  to  every  govern- 
ment, for  two  reasons  :  the  one  is,  that  independently 
of  the  merits  of  any  particular  plan  or  measure,  it  is  de- 
sirable on  various  accounts,  that  it  should  appear  to  oth- 
er nations  as  the  offspring  of  a  wise  and  honorable  poli- 
cy :  the  second  is,  that  in  doubtful  cases,  particularly 
where  the  national  councils  may  be  warped  by  some 
strong  passion,  or  momentary  interest,  the  presumed  or 
known  opinions  of  the  impartial  world  may  be  the  best 
guide  that  can  be  followed.  What  has  not  America  lost 
by  her  want  of  character  with  foreign  nations  ;  and  Iiow 
many  errors  and  follies  woulil  she  not  have  avoided,  if 
the  justice  and  propriety  of  her  measures  had,  in  every 
instance,  been  previously  tried  by  the  light  in  which 
they  would  probably  appear  to  the  unbiased  part  of  man- 
kind."* 

The  habit  of  evil  speaking,  it  is  said,  punishes  the 
speaker  by  mnking  him  a  convert,  in  the  course  of  time, 
to  the  belief  of  his  own  falsehood.  Upon  the  philoso- 
phy of  this  principle  it  is,  that  great  and  essential  (rnllis 
should  be  often  proclaimed.  How  unhappy  then  for 
the  cause  of  national  justice,  when  public  men  contract 
the  habit  of  speaking  on  international  topics,  without 
due  care  and  examination;  and  the  press,  not  only  en- 
gages her  powers  to  expend  bitter  invectives  on  a  sister 
people,  but  libi'ls  its  own  citizens,  who  may  dare  to 
stand  in  the  current,  after  the  example  of  the  illustrious 
Chatham,  and  breast   its  violence. 

If  it  be  important  to  the  ends  of  a  high  self  interest,  or 
•  Feiiera]ijt,'p.  'J9o- 


19 

of  justice  lo  others  :  if  it  be  a  lUity  (A  inciilc;\te  and  spreaJ 
habits  and  feelings  of  honest  candor  among  (he  people, 
or  to  write    history  with  the  pen  of  Irnlh,  those  who,  to 
gratify  a  national  vanity,  implant  or  awaken  a  prejudice 
towards  another  nation,  which  clouds  the  light  of  truth, 
do,  indeed,  as  sadly  mistake  the  duties  of  patriotism,  as 
the  obligations  of  right.       They   may  scorn  the  imputa- 
tion, yet,  in  truth,  do  they   participate   in   the   guilt   of 
those,  who,  for  the  more  ignoble  end  of  advancing  self, 
encourage  the  delusion.       Both,  in  all  ages,  have  been 
(he  prominent  authors  of  wars,  and  the  real  plunderers  of 
the  ploughman.      In  private  life,  no  good  man  will  de- 
mand what  a  sense  of  justice  forbids  him  to   take;  and 
liis  forbearance  to  do  so,  where  he  might   succeed,  con- 
s(itute3  his  high  character  for  honor.     Shall  a  nation  be 
guided  by  counsels  less  noble  ]      Is  dishonor  less  when 
its  responsibility  is  divided  ] 

It  was  a  remark  of  Chesterfield  that  the  king  ought  to 
be  the  first  gentleman  of  the  realm  :  and  I  will  add,  that 
the  justice  of  a  nation  should  never  be  surpassed  by  the 
highest  justice  of  the  purest  citizen.  As  a  great  moral 
person,  it  should  be  the  standard  of  excellence,  raised 
above  the  approach  of  mere  passion  and  interest — a  ma- 
jesty whose  diadem  should  sparkle  with  the  jewels  of 
its  virtues.  "Our  country,  may  she  always  be  right; 
but  our  country  right  or  wrong" — was  the  sentiment  of 
a  noble  and  gallant  hero  of  our  land.  Understood  cor- 
rectly, it  is  equally  true,  patriotic  and  beautiful.  With 
an  admission  that  she  may  be  wrong,  comes  the  earnest 
and  emphatic  prayer,  (hat  she  "may  be  right" — a  feel- 
ing entreaty,  that  she  would  carefully  and  conscientious- 
ly examine  the  ground  she  might  take,  accompanied 
w^ith  a  decided  announcement  of  devotion  to  her  position, 
whatever  it  might  be,  when  by  her  councils  she  had  de- 
termined it.  It  is  a  beautiful  abridgement  of  the  nation- 
al compact. 

Simple  as  is  the  sentiment,  I  doubt  whether  one   ha» 


20 


been  more  iVocjiionlly  peiverlcti  to  rcbiii.e  the  ficcdom  of 
enquiry,  nnd  tlillc  ilie  cnndid  exprc;^sion  of  n  sense  of 
national  justice.  Properly  nndeistood,  it  applies  eqiial-^t 
ly  to  tlie  statesman,  who  is  deliberating  on  national^ 
claims  disputed,  and  (o  the  soldier  called  lo  defend  na- 
tional rights  decided.  Yet,  in  the  eager  liaste  of  some, 
it  is  ripe  for  application,  (he  moment  a  pretension  is  ad- 
vancetl  ;  who  disdaining"  all  enquiry  of  the  right,  reject 
the  first  half  of  the  expression,  and  call  up  the  chivalry 
ofthe  land  and  marshal  it,  straightway,  upon  a  claim 
iinde(crn)ined,  "for  our  country  right  or  wrong."  Theie 
cannot  be  perpetrated  a  more  glaring  injustice  on  the 
brave  man  who  uttered  the  sentiment,  than  thus  to  mu- 
tilate il.  The  high  ton.ed  soul  of  the  sensitive  and  la- 
mented Decatur  would  rather  have  met  every  foe  of  his 
country  in  balile,  than  encountered  so  foul  a  slander  up- 
on his  sense  of  justice,  fiom  his  countrymen. 

Nor  may  we,  while  studious  to  cultivate  a  sense  of  jus- 
lice  to  other  nations,  overlook  what  is  due  to  ourselves. 
Whether  a  nation  is  more  culpable  in  pretermitting  its 
own  clear  rights,  or  in  nsm'ping  the  unquestioned  rights 
of  another,  is  what  I  purpose  not  to  decide.  Both  are 
equally  opposed  to  a  correct  sense  of  justice,  and  policy 
alone,  perhaps,  might  determine  between  the  two  wrongs. 
In  the  proper  cultivation  of  this  sense  we  cannot  learn 
the  duties  we  owe,  without  fixing,  with  equal  exactitude, 
(he  duties  we  may  demand  ;  and  when  tlie  former  are 
ascertained,  we  cannot  neglect  the  latter  but  with  the 
guilt  of  cowardice  or  treacliery.  Although  ib.c  interests 
and  passions  ofthe  citizen  are,  generally,  sufficient  safe- 
guards against  a  tame  surrender  of  national  rights,  yet 
interests  and  passions,  equally  influential,  are  sometimes 
found  indifferent  to,  if  not  arrayed  on  the  side  of  foreign 
assnmptioiis.  Peace,  blessed  in  her  horn  of  plenty,  is 
ready  to  make  a  thousand  sacrifices  to  war ;  and  luxuri- 
ous case  buckels  on  her  armor  with  reluctance  to  quit 
her  passionate  cnjcyments.     An  enterprising  people    is 


21 


fU'Vf  I  slow  lo  j)rrcrive,  and  is  oKimi,  bii(  too  willing'  to 
reiip  llif  advaniage.  It  is  licie  ihat  a  sense  of  nadonnl 
jnsticPj  properly  cullivated  as  a  dnt_v,  and,  becoming,  by 
reflection,  a  habit,  is  a  poweiTnl  protection  of  national 
honor.  As  a  iiabit,  it  keeps  t'le  duty  always  before  ns  ; 
and  the  very  ciictnnstance  of  being  trained  to  render 
justice  to  others,  will  arouse  a  spirit  of  strong  indigna- 
tion when  it  is  withheld  from  us.  Of  a  truth  it  may  be 
affirmed,  that  he  is  ''doubl}'  armed  whose  quarrel  is 
just." 

Tt  rarely  happens  that,  in  ilie  same  age  of  a  people, 
they  are  under  a  necessity  both  of  setting  bounds  to  their 
im  just  exactions,  and  of  arousing  a  subdued  national  spir- 
it against  the  aggressions  of  others.  The  former  is  gen- 
erally, the  precursor  of  the  latter:  and  it  is  the  history  of 
the  earth,  that  that  nation  which,  in  a  long  career  of 
ambition,  has  closed  its  ear  against  the  demands  of  jus- 
tice to  others,  becomes,  in  the  end,  indiflerent  to  a  sense 
of  justice  to  itself.  It  is  a  settled  law  of  Provitlence,  and 
a  just  punishment  of  tyranny,  which  neither  the  heroic 
soul  of  a  BrutuS;  nor  the  inflexible  virtues  of  a  Cato,  nor 
both  combined,  may  avert.  If  then,  your  government 
is  the  best  yet  tried,  and  for  that  reason,  you  would  ren- 
der it  both  immortal  and  universal,  learn,  as  a  first  duty, 
(0  cultivate  a  sense  of  justice  lo  others, — "to  demand  of 
them  nothing  but  what  is  right,"  and  yon  will  be  sure 
"to  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong." 

As  a  liberal  education  expands  the  mind,  opens  the 
channels  of  truth  and  reason,  elevates  the  feelings  and 
purifies  them  of  prejudice,  to  whom  shall  the  nation  look 
for  a  bold,  impartial  and  candid  sense  of  national  justice, 
if  not  to  you,  destined,  if  you  will  not  bury  your  talent, 
to  bo  lights  and  ornaments  in  your  day?  To  whom 
shall  a  government  look,  w'hose  only  pillars  are  the  vir- 
tue and  intelligence  of  her  people,  if  not  lo  those  who 
are  trained  in  the  philosophy  of  her  schools  with  ihe 
generous  erudition  of  the  times  ?  Upon  what  other  class 


22 


of  citizen?,  wonKl  yon,  taking  refuge  in  ilic  lap  of  indo- 
lence, cast  (he  bnrden  of  inceiing,  wiili  manly  firmness, 
liie  slorms  of  excited  prejndice  and  delnsion,  or  of  awak- 
ening the  spirit  of  national  justice,  slumbering  in  apa- 
thy and  ease  1  It  is  true,  (here  are  others,  who  never 
having  had  your  opportunities  may  feci  the  full  man- 
hood of  being  a  freeman,  and  would  rather  be  overborne 
by  the  whirlwind  than  be  chief  of  the  storm.  Snch  men 
there  are,  who,  lured  in  the  path  of  station  by  (he  love 
of  honor,  and  the  true  glor}'  of  serving  their  conniry, 
liave  yet  jianscd  before  the  highest  prize  of  ambition, 
and  dared  to  lose  it  in  preferring  to  be  right.  But  with 
such  examples  before  yon,  yonr  duty  to  follow  is  redou- 
bled, and  justice  demands,  as  her  most  inflexible  vota- 
ries, those  who  drink  her  precepts  at  the  fountain  of 
"useful  learning." 

Never  had  a  people  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  due  sense  of  national  justice,  as  those  of  these 
confederated  states.  Each  occupying  the  position,  in 
many  respects,  of  a  nation,  presents,  continually,  con- 
flicts of  interest,  institutions  and  laws,  not  only  with  her 
nei^'hbor,  but  with  the  general  government  itself.  Each 
proud  of  its  individuality,  and  sensitive  of  its  honor,  hav- 
ing rights  to  demand  and  obligations  to  fulfil  a  high 
sense  of  justice,  only,  and  an  habitual  observance  of  if, 
at  all  times,  can  secure  that  union  in  which  are  lodged 
both  independence  and  liberty.  Upon  this  generation 
rests,  and,  on  every  subsequent  generation,  will  rest, 
the  preservation  of  that  cor.cord,  whose  life  is  justice  ; 
whose  fruit  is  a  nation's  happiness,  and  whose  trophies, 
the  n)agnlficent  monuments  of  peace. 

Allow  me,  my  friends,  to  address  a  few  words  to  those 
of  you,  who,  to-morrow,  will  terminate  their  connection 
with  this  University,  to  enter  upon  the  destined  avoca- 
tions of  life.  To  select  your  pursuit  with  discretion,  is 
of  no  small  importance  ;  but  of  far  greater  is  it,  that  you 
should  steadily  adhere  to  it,  after  the  selection.     To  be 


t23 

deterred  by  llie  TirsL  obstacles  which  present  iheinselves, 
IP,  virtuall}',  to  surrender  all  occupation.  To  overcome 
the  first,  will  render  easy  the  victory  over  all  that  may 
come  afler.  Perseverance  lias  never  deniec--if|S"  reward, 
and  Fickleness  has  never  complied  with  her  promises. 
The  habits  of  industry,  regularity  and  order  are  essential 
to  success  in  every  undertaking'  :  once  ncquired,  they 
economise  time  and  labor,  and  lead  to  accmacy  ;  but 
they  are  easily  lost,  and  much  more  easily  lost,  than  ac- 
quired. Their  possession  is,  to  any  man  of  respectable 
talents,  a  fortune  :  and  you  will  not  put  a  proper  esti- 
mate on  the  value  of  S3'stem  conducive  to  these  habits, 
if  you  suppose  that  it  is  introduced  here,  without  intend- 
ing to  inculcate  its  utility  for  future  life.  It  is  indeed  a, 
part  of  your  education,  and  is,  expressly,  so  designed. — 
The  labor  performed  by  some  men  seems  to  be  beyond 
our  conception,  but  the  whole  secret  lies  in  the  admira- 
ble economy  of  system. 

Do  not  imagine  that  the  restraints  imder  which  you 
have  been  placed,  during  your  collegiate  course,  are 
evils  ;  nor  that,  in  escaping  from  them,  you  are  about  to 
rush  on  a  day  of  joyous  emancipation.  You  have  but 
laid  the  foundation  on  which  the  superstructure  may 
arise  ;  and  if  you  build  at  all,  the  square  and  the  plum- 
met will  be  as  necessary  in  your  hands,  as  they  have  been 
in  those  of  yonr  preceptors.  If  your  workmanship  show 
any  grace  or  strength,  it  will  be  the  result  of  disciplined 
labor:  a  labor  which  geniu?,  sometimes,  despises  as 
drudgery  ;  but  a  labor  which  ever  overtakes  the  fitful 
pace  of  genius,  and  leaves  her  behind,  amused  with  in- 
genious trifles,  or  always  putting  ofl'a  great  work,  because 
she  can  so  easily  accomplish  it. 

Tliose  Avho  maintain  that  all  men  are  born  with  equal 
intellect,  undoubtedly  embrace  an  error ;  but  the  dispar- 
ity is  much  less  than  is  generally  supposed.  The  ca- 
pacity of  the  mind  is  the  gi'rat  standard  of  its  CNxellence, 
land  whilst  inequality  in  this  la  admitted,   it  may  be  tru- 


24 


ly  aftlnneil  thai,  nitic  (eiiUis  of  niai)kiiid  possess  enotigli 
to  master  the  luosL  abstruse  sciences,  and  to  raise  them- 
selves, b)^  an  untiring  industry,  to  an  extraordinary 
height,  and  far  beyond  the  level  of  their  fellows.  Dis- 
tinguished men,  made  so  by  application,  are  far  more 
numerous  than  distinguished  men,  made  so  by  genius. 

If  yon  will  it,  eminence  is  within  your  reach  :  if,  when 
you  quit  this  retreat,  you  are  resolved  to  ascend,  you 
rnay  ascend,  but  think  not  to  leap  to  the  prize  :  the  slow 
and  steo.d}'  step  is  the  sure  one.  Nor  think,  if  chance 
should  aid  you  to  spring,  at  once,  to  an  exalted  station, 
you  have  certainly  beconie  great  :  the  station  may  be 
eminent,  but  he  is  the  weakest  of  men,  and  most  to  be 
pitied,  who  adorns  his  ofijce  only  by  wearing  its  robes. 
A  life  of  study  lies  before  you,  and  you  must  enter  on  it 
with  cheerfulness  and  decision,  if  you  would  aspire  to 
real  greatness.  The  smiles  and  blandishments  of  pleas- 
nre  will  play  around  your  path  to  lure  you  from  yoiu' 
toil  ;  ease  and  rest  will  spread  their  couches  with  dam- 
ask and  down,  and  you  will  fiiller  as  you  proceed,  and 
be  lost  if  you  slop.  That  world  which  will  receive  you, 
Avill  be  awake  to  the  new  comer;  and  little  as  you  ma}" 
think  if,  will  soon  determine  for  itself,  your  character; 
your  opinions  and  your  conduct  will  be  noted, — not  in- 
deed to  be  acknowledged  as  standards,  but  for  comment 
and  criticism  :  and  the  impressions  you  make  will  quick- 
ly bring  about  you  the  society  supposed  to  be  accepta- 
ble ;  and,  remember,  this  society  often  decides  the  des- 
tiny of  young  i^ien,  irrevocably. 

Do  not  persuade  yourselves  that  you  can  be  intimate 
with  men,  without  imbibing  a  portion  of  their  opinions, 
or,  without  being  influenced,  in  your  conduct,  by  their 
advice  ;  for,  of  all  qualities,  a  generous  mind  is  most  de- 
ficient in  tirniness.  First  yeilding,  as  an  act  of  courtesy, 
fo  what  it  does  not  approve,  it  next  concedes  to  friend- 
ship, what  it  positively  dislikes  ;  and  hahit,  coming  in 
aid  of  the  conquectj  coinplcteci  both  the  conversion  and 


20 


the  ruin.  Be^val■c,  then,  of  your  associationp ;  for, 
slandiiig"  as  you  will,  in  llio  mid.^t  of  tcmplalions,  j'ou 
will  be  as  a  needle  on  its  pivot, — the  smallest  attrac- 
tion may  change  and  determine  the  direction  of  yoiu" 
life.  Wherever  you  may  go — in  what  spot  soever  you 
may  inhabit,  you  will  find  living'  mementos  of  these 
truths  ; — unhappy  wrecks  who,  in  their  bright  and  buoy- 
ant morning,  embarked  on  the  warters  of  pleasiu'e,  at 
first,  timidly  keeping  the  shcre,  then  ventming  to  circle 
around  the  returning  eddy,  and,  finally,  caught  up  by 
the  current, 'and  borne  away  in  the  rapid  tide  itself. — 
If  these  do  not  warn  you,  no  man's  precepts  may  a- 
vail. 

Freedom  of  opinion  is  a  privilege  which  no  tyranny 
can  fetter;  but  it  is  neither  safe  nor  becoming  to  express 
every  conviction  of  the  mind.  By  the  judgment  of  the 
enlightened  world,  Christianity  is  essential  to  the  happi- 
ness of  men,  and  he,  that  would  publicly  question  its 
flulhenticity,  should  stand  on  higher  ground  than  mere 
opinion.  Has  speculative  scepticism  ever  added  a 
feather  to  the  wing  of  science,  or  imparted  to  art  a  pol- 
ish, or  bestowed  on  labor  a  sinew  ?  What  crime  has  it 
ever  reformed,  what  virtue  improved  1  And  practical 
scepticism — has  it  ever  erected  a  cabin  for  the  unshel- 
tered, furnished  a  garment  for  the  naked,  or  provided 
food  for  the  hungiy?' — unlocked  a  prison  door,  or  giv- 
en a  cup  of  cold  water  to  the  thirsty  ? — character  to  au 
individual,  or  just  renown  to  a  nation  7  It  is  the  report- 
ed saying  of  an  eminent  philosopher,  upon  seeing  an 
infidel,  in  a  tempest,  beseeching  his  safety  from  Provi- 
dence, that  scepticism  might  do  for  the  land,  but  was 
wholly  unsuited  to  the  waves. 

But  it  is  now  more  than  the  precept  of  wisdom, — it  is 
the  experience  of  a  trying  age,  that  whilst,  like  a  cow- 
ard, it  disowns  itself,  amidst  the  storms  of  the  ocean,  it 
raises  like  a  demon,  moral  storms  upon  the  land.  It  is 
fit  for  no    place — neither  where  the    elements   frown, 


'26 


nor  wliPie  t!ia  t'lenieiils  sDiile.  In  the  shadow  of  deaiU 
ii  is  despair: — in  iho  sunshine  t>f  health  it  is  the  licen- 
tioiis  llan.ie,  ready  to  fwe  (he  sleeping  passions,  and 
spread  their  hlai^e  over  the  institutions  of  justice  and 
snercv. 


^ 


